Who killed Wellington?

       A 15 year old autistic boy named Christopher finds his neighbors dog killed with a garden fork. Now he wants to take this opportunity to solve a crime and write a good detective book while doing so. Chris is very smart, but he is yet to find out that was his father, Mr. Boone, who was guilty of killing the dog, Wellington.

       If Mr. Boone wasn't guilty, he probably wouldn't care about Christopher trying to figure out who killed the dog. The first time Mr. Boone told Christopher to leave it alone was on the drive back home from the police station. Christopher was just curious about the dog and wanted to know what happened, but Mr. Boone got angry right away "then Father banged the wheel with his fist"- chapter 41. It could be the fact that he's bringing his son back home from the police station at 3am that is making Mr. Boone a little on edge, but he would have no need to want Christopher to leave it if he didn't have anything to do with it. Then, in chapter 79 after Christopher's father finds out he has still been doing some detective work, he gets angry again and tells Christopher to stop, but this time he gives Christopher very clear instructions the way Christopher understands them. He also makes Chris promise to stop the detective game because Christopher can't lie therefore he an't break his promises. Mr. Boone felt the need to go as far as to make Christopher promise to stop trying to figure out who killed Wellington. Mr. Boone being Christopher's father knows that he can't break a promise so he also knows that if he makes Christopher promise, he will stop. Mr. Boone would probably not want Christopher to stop all his detective work if he didn't have anything to do with Wellington's death.

       When Christopher's mother died their neighbor, Mrs. Shears, came over and would spend some nights at The Boone's house. Christopher stated that when Mrs. Shears was comforting his father, she was being a little bit friendly with him. Obviously, if there was something going on between Mr. Boone and Mrs. Shears and they were trying to hide it, Christopher probably wouldn't know, but to a person who understands social cues most people would probably find it unusual for a woman to hug or comfort a man by pulling his head to their chest. Almost the entire class immediately thought Mr. Shears was an evil disgusting man who had been cheating on his dying wife with the neighbour across the street. Then people thought of crazy theories about their relationship that led to the murder of Wellington. It could be true, but it could also have been a red herring. We later learned that it was actually Mr. Shears and Mrs. Boone that were having an affair. Mrs. Shears and Mr. Boone might just be lonely now that their previous spouses left them and are now finding comfort in each other because they can both relate. Mr. Boone could be having a hard time raising Christopher on his own, being the provider of their income but also playing the mother role at the same time and Mrs. Shears, not being busy with a husband of her own, maybe just wants to be a good friend to them and help out the Boone's. Although Mrs. Shears and Mr. Boone seemed to be a little affectionate after Christopher's mother died, it doesn't necessarily mean something was definitely going on between the two.

     As Christopher said in Chapter 67, Wellington's murder would have had to have a motive for why they would even want to kill an innocent dog. Some of Christopher's reasons for why someone would kill Wellington were because they were mad and because they wanted to make Mrs. Shears upset. Mr. Boone could be guilty for both of these things. He has been known to have a short temper, especially when talking about the death of Wellington, and he tends to drink as well. In chapter 41 Christopher found his dad crying and drinking scotch on the sofa at 2:07 a.m. so his father could very well have been drunk and angry one night and did something that he shouldn't have. Mr. Boone also said that Mrs. Shears was not their friend anymore and that Mr. Shears was evil. That is already two people connected to Wellington that Mr. Boone doesn't like. He was also friends with Mrs. Shears before. Now, all of a sudden, Christopher finds out they aren't anymore meaning something had to have happened to end their friendship. If whatever happened was really that bad, it would give Mr. Boone a reason to want to hurt Mrs. Shears and the best way to hurt someone would be to kill or get rid of the last thing left that they love. Mr. Boone has the most reasons to why someone would want to kill Wellington and is known to sometimes drink and be a bit hot-tempered.

     In the midst of writing an interesting detective novel, Christopher will soon discover that it was his own father, Mr. Boon, who was responsible for the death of their poor neighbour's dog. Who knows why or what the real cause of this murder was. Now all that's left for Mr. Boone to do is admit what he has done to his son and Mrs. Shears and hope that they can forgive him for what he did to the  faultless dog.

Argumentative Essay

Who killed Wellington?

Mr. Boon killed Wellington

-Mr Boone drinks and has a short temper(gets mad at Christopher easily)

-Hates Mrs and Mr Shears

-Doesn't want Chris to play detective

Red Herring- Everyone thought it was Mrs Shears and Mr Boone that had something going on but it was actually Mrs Boone and Mr Shears

Pressure song

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iDZnS0wL-0g

The song I chose is "Confetti" by Tori Kelly. I can relate to the chorus where she says

"People seem to think

That you'll be happier, once you reach the top

You'll have it all

But I'm living for right now

Cause what if tomorrow never comes

I'm not waiting, I'm not waiting

For the confetti to fall"

I relate to this because I get really stressed out and spend a lot of time worrying about what I want to do in the future, what my dreams are and what university I want to go to after high school but I forget to stop and take a breath. Sometimes I do things because I know it will help me get into a good university instead of doing them for my happiness or other people but I have to realize that it's good to be this age and that I'm really lucky to be who I am and you only get older. Life goes by really fast and I don't want to look back on my teenage years and all my memories will be me stressing about the future.

"Confetti"

I gotta keep myself in check sometimes

Cause' I tend to dream real big sometimes

The fancy outfits and the sparkly awards

My name in lights, the people lined up at the doors

But I gotta remember to take it one step at a time

[Chorus:]

People seem to think

That you'll be happier, once you reach the top

You'll have it all

But I'm living for right now

Cause what if tomorrow never comes

I'm not waiting, I'm not waiting

For the confetti to fall

I can't just sit around and wait for my life to start

I can make a difference, put a little happiness in someone's heart

The fancy cars, the glitter and the fame

It's all nice, but it won't be worth a thing

Love is bigger, so I'm a stand up for love, yeah

[Chorus:]

People seem to think

That you'll be happier, once you reach the top

You'll have it all

But I'm living for right now

Cause what if tomorrow never comes

I'm not waiting, I'm not waiting

For the confetti to fall

[Bridge:]

If there was a rope stretching up to the sky

With all of my dreams at the very top, so high

I get so caught up in everything around me, moving quickly

I forget to cherish every single moment I receive ohh

I forget about the climb, I just wanna get there

Don't wanna wait in line, even though it's so clear

That I'm called to use patience on this journey that I'm on

I know that I'll come out alive and it'll only make me strong

Oh oh, while everybody's focused on the hype

Oh oh, oh oh... I'll be wondering why we seem to think

You'll be happier, once you reach the top

You'll have it all

But I'm living for right now

Cause what if tomorrow never comes

I'm not waiting, I'm not waiting, no

[Chorus:]

People seem to think

That you'll be happier, once you reach the top

You'll have it all

But I'm living for right now, hey

Cause what if tomorrow never comes

I'm not waiting, no I'm not waiting

For the confetti to fall

I'm not waiting to be happy

No, no, no, no, no, no, no

Ooh, yeah

     Main characters do not have to be mature and mentally developed in order to be interesting. Romeo did many childish things throughout the play. His decisions were not well thought out and were based on emotions over sense and he also did a lot of self pitying in the play. Romeo had no self control over his feelings, made irrational decisions, and whined and complained multiple times throughout the play making him an immature young teenager.

     Romeo could not control his feelings very well and was too thoughtless in his decisions. He claimed to love Juliet, but not even a day before he met her he also claimed to love another girl named Rosaline. The love Romeo professed for Rosaline was not even real love, he just wanted to sleep with her. 

"ROMEO

She hath, and in that sparing makes huge waste,

For beauty, starved with her severity,

Cuts beauty off from all posterity.

She is too fair, too wise, wisely too fair," Romeo was upset and thought it was a waste for her to stay a virgin because she was so beautiful. Romeo only wanted to sleep with Rosaline, but he was already depressed about her not returning his feelings. All Romeo did was lock himself in his room and pity himself to the point where Benvolio would try to get him out and find other girls, but Romeo still claimed he loved Rosaline and seeing beautiful girls would only remind him of how beautiful Rosaline is.

"ROMEO

Show me a mistress that is passing fair;

What doth her beauty serve but as a note

Where I may read who passed that passing fair?

Farewell. Thou canst not teach me to forget."

Then all of a sudden, he sees Juliet and now he is in love with her and forgets all about Rosaline, the girl he was so in love with that no other girl could ever make him forget about her. 

ROMEO-ABOUT JULIET

"Did my heart ever love anyone before this moment? My eyes were liars, then, because I never saw true beauty before tonight."

It was very immature of Romeo to not be able to control his emotions and he did not think about the decisions he made.

As immature as Romeo is, one can argue that throughout the course of the play, because of his love for Juliet, he does grow up a little. When Tybalt wanted to fight Romeo, he decided to take the high road and try to resolve things with Romeo. It can be said that Romeo doing that did show maturity because Tybalt is his worst enemy. When Romeo surrendered to Tybalt, it showed a lot of weakness and nobody would want to look weak in front of their enemy. The fact that Romeo was willing to surrender to Tybalt and look like a coward in front of his friends also showed his loyalty to Juliet. Not only did he surrender to Tybalt, he also told him he loved him. He was willing to put himself in a vulnerable position because she is his wife and Tybalt is now family. Some people might also disagree that Romeo is immature because they are the same way and do not realize the way they are behaving.

“ROMEO

But love thee better than thou canst devise,

Till thou shalt know the reason of my love.

And so, good Capulet—which name I tender

As dearly as my own—be satisfied.”

Although Romeo was not very levelheaded, what caused him to grow up was his love for Juliet.

     Romeo and Juliet were both very young and immature and were not very rational at making their decisions. Many of the things they did were impulsive. Romeo and Juliet claimed to be in love after knowing each other for a very short time. He also pressured Friar Lawrence to marry them right away for no reason stall. They just decided they were in love and wanted to get married as soon as possible. If they waited a little longer, Nurse or Friar Lawrence could have convinced their families to let them marry each other or thought of a better plan that could have ended with Romeo and Juliet alive.

“ROMEO

I’ll tell thee as we pass, but this I pray:

That thou consent to marry us today.”

Romeo also loves to pity himself instead of picking himself up and facing his problems, he likes to cry about them and feel bad for himself. When Romeo was banished from Verona, instead of being grateful that Prince gave him a smaller punishment than what he deserved, he still cried and complained that he would rather be dead. Even Friar Lawrence was tired of Romeo’s complaining.

“FRIAR LAWRENCE

   Hold thy desperate hand.

Art thou a man? Thy form cries out thou art.

Thy tears are womanish. Thy wild acts denote

The unreasonable fury of a beast.

Unseemly woman in a seeming man,

And ill-beseeming beast in seeming both!

Thou hast amazed me. By my holy order,

I thought thy disposition better tempered.

Hast thou slain Tybalt? Wilt thou slay thyself,

And slay thy lady that in thy life lives

By doing damnèd hate upon thyself?

Why rail’st thou on thy birth, the heaven, and earth?

Since birth and heaven and earth, all three do meet

In thee at once, which thou at once wouldst lose?

Fie, fie, thou shamest thy shape, thy love, thy wit,

Which, like a usurer, abound’st in all

And usest none in that true use indeed

Which should bedeck thy shape, thy love, thy wit.

Thy noble shape is but a form of wax,

Digressing from the valor of a man;

Thy dear love sworn but hollow perjury,

Killing that love which thou hast vowed to cherish;

Thy wit, that ornament to shape and love,

Misshapen in the conduct of them both,

Like powder in a skill-less soldier’s flask,

Is set afire by thine own ignorance;

And thou dismembered with thine own defence.

What, rouse thee, man! Thy Juliet is alive,

For whose dear sake thou wast but lately dead—

There art thou happy. Tybalt would kill thee,

But thou slew’st Tybalt—there art thou happy.

The law that threatened death becomes thy friend

And turns it to exile—there art thou happy.

A pack of blessings light upon thy back,

Happiness courts thee in her best array,

But, like a misbehaved and sullen wench,

Thou pout’st upon thy fortune and thy love.

Take heed, take heed, for such die miserable.

Go, get thee to thy love, as was decreed.

Ascend her chamber, hence, and comfort her.

But look thou stay not till the watch be set,

For then thou canst not pass to Mantua,

Where thou shalt live, till we can find a time

To blaze your marriage, reconcile your friends,

Beg pardon of the Prince, and call thee back

With twenty hundred thousand times more joy

Than thou went’st forth in lamentation.—

Go before, Nurse. Commend me to thy lady,

And bid her hasten all the house to bed,

Which heavy sorrow makes them apt unto.

Romeo is coming.” 

Instead of dealing with the problems he and Juliet have, Romeo would rather be dead or kill himself. It was a rash decision Romeo made to kill himself the moment he found out Juliet was dead. Instead of thinking it through or grieving, he took the easy way out and decided to kill himself right away. Romeo even felt guilty over the pain he caused Juliet by killing Tybalt that he was about to stab himself. He did not even think about how Juliet would feel if he killed himself at that moment. He would have made her feel worse.

"ROMEO

     As if that name,

Shot from the deadly level of a gun,

Did murder her, as that name’s cursed hand

Murdered her kinsman. O, tell me, Friar, tell me,

In what vile part of this anatomy

Doth my name lodge? Tell me, that I may sack

The hateful mansion. (draws his dagger)"

“ROMEO

And never from this palace of dim night

Depart again. Here, here will I remain

With worms that are thy chamber maids. Oh, here

Will I set up my everlasting rest,

And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars

From this world-wearied flesh. Eyes, look your last.

Arms, take your last embrace. And, lips, O you

The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss

A dateless bargain to engrossing death.”

The choices that Romeo and Juliet made were reckless and the way Romeo acted in the play was very childish.

     The interesting characters are not always the ones that that are the most mentally stable and mature. Romeo was the opposite of that. The decisions he made were much more emotional rather than sensible. Romeo did not seem to have much power over his emotions and most of his choices were crazy and illogical. He spends most of his time in the play making bad decisions, whining or complaining which makes him just like another teenage boy who thinks he knows what he wants.

http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/romeo/S33.html

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/r/romeo-and-juliet/character-analysis/romeo

http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=3239